


something new

by sayhellotothestars



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Universe, F/F, Fluff, Valentine's Day, time skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22758514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayhellotothestars/pseuds/sayhellotothestars
Summary: Of course they both meant to confess at the same time. No matter how much time had passed, it seemed they’d always be in sync.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 108
Collections: CatrAdora Valentine’s Day Fluff





	something new

The view overlooking the grounds of the Bright Moon castle is breathtaking. The moons are setting, and the stars are beginning to peek through the clouds. A pleasant breeze carries the scent of the banquet and the sound of music and the partygoers onto the castle’s roof.

Catra can’t wrap her head around the fact that she’s so content right now. She’s never really been able to, not after-after everything. Everything she’s been feeling, everything she’s lived and is currently living, still feels surreal—and yet this is her life. Her days of hoping longingly for something better on the roof of the Fright Zone, of fighting the one person she loves most in the world, wondering where she came from, who her family is, and what it would have been like to grow up loved are all behind her. She isn’t going to suddenly wake up from this life to find that it was all a cruel dream. Still, Catra isn’t sure she will ever get used to this. She’s learned not to take it for granted, at least.

Adora exhales deeply, pulling Catra out of her thoughts. She shivers a little, Catra can see the goosebumps rising over her arms, and presses herself even closer to Catra. Her thighs are already pressed right up against Catra’s, her hands idly playing with Catra’s fingers on her lap. The silence isn’t uncomfortable, not at all—it’s calm and peaceful, but Catra can’t decipher the adorably pensive look on Adora’s face. She’s nibbling on her bottom lip, head cocked to one side, brows furrowed. Catra can’t help but watch the gears in her head turn with fond amusement.

“Catra?” Adora asks, breaking the silence. “Was there any reason you wanted to come up here? Today?” Adora looks nervous as she fiddles Catra’s slender fingers.

Catra freezes for a moment, feeling like a deer caught in headlights. Catra understands Adora’s unspoken question and finally understands her where her thoughts are. The truth is, she did have a reason for bringing Adora up here. But the longer she looks at her; the more her brain seems to short circuit. “What do you mean ‘today’?” Catra asks, playing dumb.

Adora shifts a little and looks up at Catra with furrowed brows and a barely held back pout as if she were trying to read her thoughts or is upset by the question itself.

Catra wants to kiss it away so badly.

“Well, it’s Love Day...” Adora trails off, looking out at the celebration below. She holds her breath.

Catra can see the longing in her eyes as she watches the happy couples, she wants to be down there with Adora too, more than anything—but getting the right words out of her mouth feels impossible. Her throat feels like it’s clogged, and her breathing feels like it’s accelerating. She knows Adora wants this as much as she does. They’ve been dancing around it for a while now. They do the hand-holding, the cheek and forehead kissing, the cuddling and snuggling, the food sharing, the teasing, they sleep together most of the time, and they’re there for each other, no matter what—but neither one has gotten the courage to say the thing they both feel. It’s terrifying.

Catra giggles and bumps her shoulder against Adora’s. “Can’t a girl just want to spend time with her best friend?” But ‘best friend’ doesn’t even feel right. They are best friends, but they’re something else they’ve been too afraid to admit. Soulmates, Catra’s moms call them. Catra tries to not react at the visibly disappointed expression on Adora’s face, the way something akin to hurt flashes across her face before her shoulders sag. Adora forces out a laugh, for Catra’s sake, and Catra laughs along so that the thick tension feels less suffocating.

A silence falls over them anyway. Catra’s mind races to make sense of her thoughts, to find and collect the words she spent so much time rehearsing in front of the mirror at home. After a couple of minutes, even though Catra is far from ready, she clears her throat, and Adora gives her her undivided attention.

Catra has to look away from those big, hopeful blue eyes—she could drown in them, and she wouldn’t mind drowning in them any other day, but right now? She has something to say. “I did want to talk to you about something,” Catra manages to get out. Her voice sounds tense and hard, but Adora perks up anyway and beams at her even brighter than She-Ra.

“Really?” Adora asks, leaning closer. “Okay, that’s good. I also have something to say. To you,” she adds lamely.

Catra cracks a smile at Adora’s unbridled excitement. Neither one knows how to begin, but Catra swore to herself that she’d stop holding back her thoughts and feelings. She’s talking to Adora talking! Talking to her comes as naturally as breathing. Catra takes a deep breath and makes her choice. If there’s anyone worth taking that leap of faith in Catra’s heart, it’s Adora. “I... I wasn’t sure we’d make it, or, well, I’d make it,” Catra begins.

Adora’s expression changes a look of confusion. “What do you mean?”

Catra exhales slowly. “Well, back in the Horde, I felt like I’d never escape. It felt like I was destined to stay there forever, but I escaped. And I escaped again from Horde Prime’s ship when it felt almost impossible that I’d see the light of day. Since then, I’ve found more reasons to live for, I try to enjoy my life as much as possible, and catch up on all the things I missed out on growing up.” Catra shakes her head, “but I wasn’t sure I’d be one of the survivors from the last battle.” Adora personally can’t imagine Catra not surviving; she’s a warrior! Catra can see Adora about to protest, so she shuts her up with a small kiss on her cheek before continuing. Adora clamps her mouth shut and blushes, but grins.

“I was prepared to not come back for good.” Catra states. Catra knows Adora is about to interrupt again by the way she leans forward with a frown. Catra rolls her eyes. “Let me talk, dork. You’ll have your turn.” Adora pouts but stays quiet.

Catra gently tugs Adora’s head down, and Adora immediately gets the message. She lies down on her lap and wraps her arms around her waist, snuggling into her. Catra uses one hand to play with her hair while Adora takes the other to intertwine their fingers together again. It’s easier to talk like this.

“There’s a lot of things that I looked forward to. I have a lot I need to do; a lot of people I need to apologize to; a lot of things I still need to fix. A lot—”

“Of things that you still need to try that I’m going to show you,” Adora says, smiling at her. “You’re my date to the next Princess Prom,” she states matter-of-factly.

Catra wouldn’t have it any other way. She grins. “Duh! I haven’t forgotten. I need to show you what a real party is like when it’s not getting blown up. But, yes. I have a lot to look forward to, but before I turn into you and lose my courage and go rambling, I just want you to know one thing: You’re one of the reasons I had to keep going.”

Noticing the more serious tone of the conversation, Adora decides to sit up again. She looks Catra in the eyes as she speaks this time, feeling immediately how earnest she’s being. The look of contentment and tenderness on Catra’s face as she looks Adora almost makes her weep, but her heart soars with joy at being the one on the receiving end of her adoration.

Catra falters as Adora’s face changes. She doesn’t know how to catch her breath again or start-up her heart. She feels frozen. Dammit, Adora. How is Catra supposed to give her heartfelt monologue when all she can think about saying is the last part? “I—”

Catra has to blink her eyes away from Adora’s stupidly soft face and gather herself again. Might as well just get it over and done with, or she might never get the chance or the courage to repeat it. “I missed you, okay? A lot. Not being with you destroyed me. And being able to be with you now, the right way, being a team, and friends, and-uh, getting to know each other as the different people we are has been one of the highlights of my life these past four years. I just,” Catra takes a deep breath and breathes out slowly. Her vision swims.

“Catra,” Adora whispers.

“Hang on, just give me a minute,” Catra pleads, shaking her head away to rid herself of the doubts that are creeping in.

How can this possibly be worse than therapy? Catra wonders with frustration. “Do you remember our promise? I got your back, and you got mine?” Adora nods, but she gets that look on her face, that fleeting look of guilt whenever she’s reminded of it. “Adora, you were my first love.” Okay, maybe that wasn’t the smoothest transition of the topic based on the way Adora’s looks like she’s about to hyperventilate.

“And I never forgot you—never really got over you. My moms say it’s because we’re soulmates or something, but I—”

“Catra!” Adora interrupts. She places her trembling hands on Catra’s face and makes her eyes meet again.

Catra stops, looking into Adora’s eyes. “I-Yes?”

Adora takes a deep break. She slides a hand to rest and Catra’s waist and gives it a gentle squeeze. The breeze feels nice up here. It helps Adora’s cheeks cool down from the heat that’s begun crawling up her neck. “Catra, I love you,” she says quietly. Catra’s eyes widen. Adora laughs a little and leans forward to rest her forehead against Catra’s. Catra relaxes immediately, her body melding into Adora’s. Adora smiles. “I love you—so, so much. You make me feel complete.”

Adora opens her eyes to see tears leaking out of Catra’s eyes. She rubs them away gently as Catra looks at her. “You’re so mean. You made me do all the talking, and now you just swoop in and beat me to the punch?” Catra sniffles.

Adora gives her a halfhearted shrug in apology. “I was going to tell you, but it was like you read my mind. What more could I have said?”

Catra smiles and wraps her arms around Adora’s shoulders, resting her head against hers. It’s out there now, at least. Adora knows, and she feels it too.

“I love you, dork,” Catra murmurs, gently nosing Adora’s cheek.

Adora wraps her arms tighter around Catra’s waist to pull her entirely onto her lap. “Repeat it. It sounds nice.”

Adora closes her eyes, relishing in the way Catra whispers it over and over into her ear in between butterfly kisses. Her purrs feel relaxing, and they’re comforting. Adora can’t stop interrupting her with her own I love yous.

They kiss a couple of times, exchanging shy pecks on the lips. They’re a lot more different than the possessive and heated ones they snuck back in the Fright Zone—and they’re both happy with it. They’ve missed each other’s lips dearly, how they seem to be made for each other, but they’ll have plenty of time to explore. Right now, they’re taking it one step at a time, together, and enjoying how nothing can feel more right in the world than being with each other. And at the end of the night, they join the other couples on the dance floor to have their first proper dance as girlfriends. They can’t possibly pull each other closer.


End file.
